22-04-2014, 10:49 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-05-2014, 08:42 AM by Bob Prudhomme.)
Drew Phipps Wrote:Bob: Do you know if the cartridges produced either in 1944 or 1954 by the WCC were made exactly to the specs of the original Italian MC ammo?
No, I don't believe they were. There are foreign rifle enthusiasts who have measured the bullet diameters of this WCC ammo with micrometers and found the bullets to be .264" in diameter.
According to some sources, the manufacture of this ammunition, by the Western Cartridge Company, began well before 1944. If you re-read the first post in this thread, you will see that it was not intended solely to arm Italian partisans. The eventuality of the Greek Civil War was seen by many analysts in the early 1940's while Greece was under occupation by the Germans and Italians. As the groove diameter of a 6.5mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer Greek rifle is only .264", as opposed to the .268" groove diameter of a Carcano, loading the WCC cartridges with bullets .264" in diameter allowed these cartridges to be used in both the 6.5mm Carcano and the 6.5mm M-S; albeit not nearly as accurately in the Carcani. Greece inherited many 6.5mm Carcano rifles after the Germans departed, as the Germans disarmed the departing Italian troops following the signing of the Italian Armistice in late 1943. The Germans greatly feared these rifles being turned against them by partisans in Italy if the Italian troops were allowed to keep them, which is exactly what happened.
The distance from the base of a Carcano cartridge to the shoulder is 1 mm less than the same distance on a 6.5mm M-S cartridge. This means that a 6.5mm cartridge, as long as it is loaded with a .264" diameter bullet, can be chambered and fired from a 6.5mm M-S rifle. The brass casing is quite malleable and will "grow" under the pressure of expanding gases to match the shape of the M-S chamber.
Whether supplying Italian partisans in Italy or anti-Communist factions in the Greek Civil War, the WCC cartridges loaded with .264" diameter bullets were capable of meeting the demand.
Mr. HILL. The right rear portion of his head was missing. It was lying in the rear seat of the car. His brain was exposed. There was blood and bits of brain all over the entire rear portion of the car. Mrs. Kennedy was completely covered with blood. There was so much blood you could not tell if there had been any other wound or not, except for the one large gaping wound in the right rear portion of the head.
Warren Commission testimony of Secret Service Agent Clinton J. Hill, 1964
Warren Commission testimony of Secret Service Agent Clinton J. Hill, 1964